Instead Cup: Material Changes?

Drat. "Instead" seems to have changed the materials used to make their menstrual cup. It used to be really rubbery feeling (not only the ring, but the cup part), and now it seems like the cup is made of some cheap-ass crinkly thin weird cellophaney stuff. Lame. I liked the old way because they were extremely durable: I got a lot of use out of just one cup by using it over and over again (rinsing it with super-hot water in between). I don't think the new ones will withstand that kind of repetitive usage.

I am also always disappointed when people have to advertise their product in a way that appeals to the squeamish and stupid masses. Take this for example (a quote from their website):

"The INSTEAD Softcup 'loves making love!'
Wearing INSTEAD Softcup during your period, you and your partner can enjoy 'clean sex'and he won't even feel it's there!

First of all, there is no such thing as "clean" sex. Sure, I understand what they're getting at, and I appreciate their use of quotation marks around that ludicrous term, but the whole thing just grates on me.

Why do we need to resort to these cutesy (and inaccurate) phrases to refer to sex and our bodies? Why can we not be BLUNT? This annoys me in the same way the "Sweet Spot" products annoy me. They're a great idea (properly pH balanced vulva cleansers), but the name itself contradicts the mission (since the whole POINT is that women's genitals are, chemically speaking, NOT sweet/alkaline).

I would prefer to buy something labelled "safe cunt cleaner" rather than "sweet spot intimate grooming products". Oh, in the absence of safe cunt cleaner, I *do* love the sweet spot products . . . and I *do* appreciate the idea of being able to fuck while menstruating without engaging in a sheet-destroying blood bath (though I usually prefer the blood bath myself).

Another thing I dislike about Instead is that the cups are too big for me, and press hard against my urinary tract making it difficult for me to pee. They only make it in one size, which means petite childless women get shafted (I do get sick and fucking tired of people catering to breeders and large horsey women at the expense of short and small childless chicks).

Ooops . . . I accidentally posted this entry over on my main blog, and got an interesting comment on it from jyl:

That's because they don't want you to use them over and over, they want you to use a new one each time. This is because they say it's unsanitary when in actuality they just want you to buy more.

I love Instead but I too am irritated with the new material.

I am glad to hear I wasn't just imagining the material change. I'll try not to be too mad at Instead since I imagine the material costs are pretty high for such a substantial product, especially when most women are probably too squeamish to reuse the cup (and probably crazy enough to wash it with antibacterial soap or something bizarrely clean-freak like that which would be VERY bad, if they did). I'm sure it's a huge legal risk for the Instead people to advise anyone to use common sense, since chances are some woman somewhere would drop the thing in the toilet and rinse it in her poopy water, then stick it back in and wind up in the hospital with an infection and sue the softcup manufacturers because "they said I could use it again".

I'll try to look on the bright side and hope that the new material will degrade faster in landfills, since it is a pretty sturdy little piece of waste, especially the old way. Ugh. I just wish people could use some sense and that those of us who reused them responsibly could continue to do so with the superior old product.